AVAM:

 One of the more unique aspects of the American Visionary Art Museum is how it manages its main exhibition space.  Each year it chooses a single theme and then curates one show around that theme that hangs for the duration of the year.  The current offering is "Good Sports: The Wisdom & Fun of Fair Play."  I have to say that of all of the shows I've seen over the years, this one is the thinnest.  It features the fewest artists and the works displayed often lack a certain magic that I have come to anticipate.  That said, it was still thoughtful and there are beautiful and interesting works of all sorts to see and delight in.  I'm including an image of curator Gage Branda's statement of concept.  You should be able to enlarge it enough to read it for yourself if you are so inclined.  

Some highlights.

untitled by Manuel Bauman, n.d.

"Lincoln Financial Field" by Kambel Smith, 2019

foreground: "Christmas Eve Truce in the Snow" by Tom Duncan, 1984

"Christmas Eve Truce in the Snow" DETAIL

Vintage Pinball Games

Various Illustrated Baseballs by George Sosnak

"New York New York" by Benny Carter, n.d.

"Hit The Road Jack!" by Ben Sakoguchi, 2005

AVAM: Icarus Staircase

 One of the stand-out attributes of the first building at the American Visual Arts Museum (There are three buildings) is a dramatic open-riser marble half-circular staircase (how's that for a description?) that I will call the Icarus Staircase.  In two sections, it takes guests from the first to third floors in style.  Concave marble lined walls provide an elegant place for works of art to accompany the climber.  A larger than life bronze Icarus with wings of inlaid mirrors and colored glass forever slowly descends between the floors, while natural life flows down for a dome of skylights.  It is truly a work of art in its various components all on its own.

Looking up from the first floor.

And back down from the second!

Icarus wrapped in his wounded wings plummets toward earth.

The art between the second and third floors.

The view back down from the top!

AVAM: American Visionary Art Museum - Perm Col Highlights

The American Visionary Art Museum is like no other museum in America.  Its collection takes the quaint notion of the untrained "primitive" artist and tosses in a range of issues around mental health and well-being.  It thrives on artists who are obsessive and compulsive in their pursuits either creatively or ideologically.   The art can be about a process or a product that promotes a profoundly held belief.  Sometimes it's about an experience, too.  A moment in time or an event that so dramatically scars the artist, they must spend the rest of their lives working out the meaning in search of respite.  You realize what might appear whimsical or kitschy holds, like an onion, many layers of representation.  This is a charming aspect of the art you experience at AVAM.  Most of it can be consumed at the level the viewer has capacity for and never leaves one feeling wanting.  

The first gallery, on the first floor, is dedicated to works from the permanent collection.  Most of these are "old friends" to me.  Let's start here.

 

In an alcove between the gallery's entrances a pair of sculptures and a pair of paintings by Jake "JT" McCord (1942- 2009).  McCord is a Black artist who grew up picking cotton and spent his life as a groundskeeper.  1984, he began painting after watching "some white ladies taking painting lessons at the Hawes Paint Store in Thomson, Georgia.  Today, the McDuffie Museum in Thomson curates and preserves his works for public viewing.

"USS LUSITANIA" by Wayne Kusy (1961 -      ).  This monumental sculpture is made entirely of flat-tipped toothpicks.  He first began building ships out of toothpicks in fifth grade.  Besides the Lusitania, Kusy have monumental models of the Queen Mary One and the Titanic.  When asked why, he replied, "It's a challenge.  There's a lot of people who like to climb mountains like Mount Everest...I choose to build models.  It's safer."

"Another Green World" by Johanna Burke (1972 -     ).  The exteriors are woven entirely of organic materials, bamboo, grasses, wheat, et. al.  These sculptures were created for display in Burgdorf Goodman's 2016 holiday windows.  Burke lives in Brooklyn and manages an artists collective dedicated to "natural elements, pattern and obsessive handicraft."

I confess, I failed to jot down notes on this bed.  Still, isn't it fun!?

It's The End Of The World As We Know It #2

 

Woolly Mammoth Theatre: Dance Like There's Black People Watching

 Woolly Mammoth Theatre must have some sort of arrangement with Chicago's Second City comedy troupe.  Every year around this time (Nov-Dec) they stage a comedy revue that was conceived of by actors at Second City.  Sometimes a local actor will join the cast.  With this production it was a senior theatre major from Howard University.  The title of the show "Dance Like There's Black People Watching" didn't seem to be a propos of anything except evocative.  The theme was African American culture with the catch phrase "We Are Not A Monolith"--reference Black Culture.  

In two acts the six members of the ensemble rotate in and out of comedy sketches of various length.  The highlight of the first act was when a White audience member was recruited to play the "Scrooge" role in an homage to Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" complete with visits by the Nigger of the Past, the Nigger of the Present, and the Nigger of the Future.  It was hilarious, but also made it's point in the same way that I just did by not using the euphemism "The N-Word".  The highlight of the second act was an audience participation improvisation between two of the players.  

An example of skit:  One actor as Eve is trying to resist taking a bite out of the apple.  Another actor as the snake with sibilant S's is trying to entice her.  When she gives in the snake slips away and Adam arrives.  Adam berates Eve saying, "What are you doing!?  God told us not to eat the apple!"

Eve replies, "But Mike Tyson said it would be okay."  Budum dum...  Corny.

It was a fun time and the energy and commitment of the ensemble kept the content engaging.  My only complaint: No Program.  

The Ensemble Clockwise from upper Right: Jillian Ebanks, Arlieta Hall, Max Thomas, Tameika Chavis, Breon Arzell, and Julius Shanks II

Breon Arzell, Arlieta Hall and Tameika Chavis; dancing, rapping and singing were woven throughout.

Perhaps the funniest vignette of the show.  Breon and Arlieta portray TV aerobics instructors.  The theme of the episode is shopping and all the moves have to do with grocery shopping.  Breon's character is gay, so there a lot of camp.  The exercises continue with driving the groceries to Arlieta's house where they discover his husband is home from work.  Then they find him in bed with his lover and aerobic homicide ensues!  

Let Your Light Shine!

Sunday at the Zoo

 I don't think I've shared here, for all my little garden zoo, and cooking pics, I don't give out too much personal information.  I do; however, volunteer at a zoo most Sunday mornings.  Consider my "house" or worship.  Today I was interpreting about the lives of our Bobcats and North American River Otters.  Kilgore, our male Bobcat was especially beautiful.

Kilgore is a medium sized (30 lb-ish) nine-year-old male who was discovered orphaned in the Oregon wilderness.  After being given to the ODNR (Oregon Department of Natural Resources) he was quickly placed into the care of the keepers at the Oregon Zoo in Portland.  Once weened, his association with and comfort in the presence of humans made re-release into the wild a poor choice.  That's when we were identified as a forever home by the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) of which we are a member.  Kilgore shares this space with another, older rescued female named Josie.  Share doesn't mean being in the space together--they would never hang out together in the wild, but trading off time between the exterior and interior habitats.  It's a common arrangement for animals whose natural predisposition is solitude.  They clearly know of one another's presence, but have no desire to sit down for a meal together.